Life has been so crazy and chaotic lately. I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon – and I’m not necessarily complaining – but man. It would be ok if it slowed down a little. I’m working on it.

Lots of fun things have happened in the past month. SO thankful for Flickr, for real. I would have no recall if I didn’t have pictures.

We went to Charleston for Labor Day weekend. Last year, we spent the weekend in Florida and really enjoyed it, so we decided to make it an annual thing. Charleston was chosen because neither of us had spent much time there + Jon’s child #4 had soccer games in both Beaufort, SC and Savannah, GA that weekend (which meant we’d be close enough to drive to see both). We missed the Beaufort game because Jon’s flight from Maine (where he’d been working all week prior) was significantly delayed, but we made it to the Savannah game. Had a fun weekend, too.

We ate really well.

Jon read about a Navy ship museum thing, so we went to that.

He was super excited to see the submarine and tell me all about it even though it was significantly different than the submarine he spent time on (as a nuclear reactor operator).

I’m not a super fan of tight/crowded spaces with no immediate outlet, but it was fun to reminisce with him.

The two weekends after Labor Day were spent having various friends over for dinner – outside, since the weather has been gorgeous …

Last weekend we drove up to visit Jon’s child #4 at her college to take her to dinner, see how she’s decorated her dorm room, attempt to fix her computer, etc.

This weekend? We’re celebrating Jon’s 45th birthday!

We had both planned to take the day off yesterday (his actual birthday) to hang out together, but he wound up needing to go in to his office. I stayed home, anyway, so I was able to meet him for lunch + bake the cake I bake every year (+ sleep late, + have breakfast with friends + try to cram in all! the! fun! things! I daydream about doing when I’m at work – it was an exhausting day).

(This thing I ordered was shredded cabbage + cilantro + tomatoes + cucumber + grilled chicken + a wasabi dressing. Seemed strange for some reason, but I’m planning to recreate at home without the bun.)

We has sushi and cake for dinner and watched tv. Perfect, low-key kind of day. I think he enjoyed it.
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I’m usually just returning from running at this time on a Saturday morning, but I have a sore throat/stuffy nose/chest congestion/cold. I had 6 miles on my schedule, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Jon went to do his 8, but I stayed home moping around for potentially one of the only times I’ve had to skip a run because of illness. I probably could have done it with no problems, but I don’t want to exacerbate the issue. I’ve missed 3 runs now this week (W, F and today/Saturday), but I’m hoping to feel well enough tomorrow to at least get my long run in.

I’ve found that there are two circumstances under which I won’t run (both of which I’ve discovered this month): when I’m already having trouble breathing because of a cold and when it’s POURING rain.

We skipped a run in a monsoon last weekend, but wound up running in BEAUTIFUL weather the next day. I’m really looking forward to a consistent end to the heat because it was just so pleasant. I LOVED running in the cold when I started back in January – just didn’t realize that until I had to run in 100 degree heat/humidity.

I’m starting to have doubts about my ability to do the half marathon and have debated dropping back down to the lower program. I enjoy running, but this goal just seems completely insurmountable right now. 6 miles completely wipes me out – and I’m slow (11:30ish – 12 avg pace depending on the day)!

I just have no idea how I’m going to add on 7 more miles. It seems impossible, so I’m losing motivation. I’m working on reframing the situation so that I focus on one additional mile at a time – but it’s hard when I know I have a goal race coming up in just over TWO MONTHS that’s going to require 7 of those individual additional miles.

I’m freaking myself out just thinking about it.

Jon is doing really well and has averaged about a 9:45 pace for his recent 8 mile runs (he has more miles because he’s doing the intermediate program, I’m doing novice).

Going to have to do something about the bloody nipples, though. (Birthday cake for post-run breakfast today!)

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Anyway.

Have I mentioned that I’m working with a personal trainer again? I am. I started with one of the running coaches 2x per week – about 3 weeks ago. I have lost a lot of core strength since I’m lazy about that sort of thing when left to my own devices, so I thought I’d give it a shot when he offered a really cheap group rate (and let me join an already established small group).

So, my weekly schedule looks like this:

M – 5:30AM strength training, 6PM Body Flow at the gym
T – Running group in the PM. Usually miserable stuff like hills.
W – 5:30AM run. Around 4ish miles right now.
TR – Running group core class in the PM, but I’ve been skipping lately to have a day off and/or because I’ve had conflicts. I miss it, though, and need to make more effort.
F – 5:30AM strength training, 6PM run (around 3ish miles right now)
S – Running group long run at 7:30AM. 6 miles the past 2 weekends.
SU – DAY OFF.

It works – and I enjoy it quite a bit since most of this stuff is done with Jon + friends – but I’m tired. A lot.
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What else?

OH. Big news. I somehow convinced a friend (the one who got me started on the whole running thing + is training for a full marathon right now) to do a Whole 30 challenge with me. We’re officially starting Oct 1.

My goal is primarily to break the sugar cycle. I eat WAY too much of it lately and have been picking up random bags of processed crap (i.e., my fav ginger cookies) and telling myself it’s ok because I run/burn so many calories. It’s time to stop.

I went to my regular MD about the insulin resistance thing I posted about last time and she looked at everything and agreed with me that the nurse practitioner I saw is nuts that I don’t need to be taking Metformin (which I never took) and that I am NOT insulin resistant.

Long story short, she recommended a high protein, high vegetable + fruit, limited carb/sugar diet to see what will happen with my long-standing hypoglycemia (most recent glucose levels were 45 and 70). I’m going in for fasting levels to be checked in December to see how/if a hard-core & consistent diet change makes an impact.

I am not sure how to eat for the long runs and for the days I exercise both before AND after work, but I’ve planned some time tomorrow to research it, meal plan, shop and get myself ready (including cleaning out cabinets because I’m too weak when I’m starving after runs to leave anything around).

My fingers are crossed. I’m hoping I can survive this with limited drama.

EDITED TO ADD: I haven’t weighed myself since the last time I posted about weight so I don’t know how much I weigh and don’t care at this point. I can tell nothing has radically changed. I might weigh on Oct 1 to see if the Whole 30 has any impact, but mostly just because I’m curious. I don’t actually intend/hope to lose weight. I don’t intend to count calories or anything like that during October, either … this is about a food/diet change to move away from lazy/poor/unhealthy habits i.e., eating cereal and cookies for dinner.